Research Funding

AERA offers grants and training for research with large-scale data sets

Supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Grants Program offers the following small grant and training programs for research involving large-scale data sets collected or supported by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), NSF, or other federal agencies. The selection process for all programs is competitive.

Dissertation Grants. Support for advanced doctoral students to undertake doctoral dissertations using data from the large-scale national or international data sets supported by the NCES, NSF, and other federal agencies. Applications are encouraged from a variety of disciplines, such as but not limited to, education, sociology, economics, psychology, demography, statistics, and psychometrics. The application deadline is January 10, 2011.

Research Grants. Small grants for faculty members, postdoctoral researchers, and other doctoral-level scholars to undertake quantitative research using data from the large-scale national or international data sets supported by the NCES, NSF, and other federal agencies. Applications are encouraged from a variety of disciplines, such as but not limited to, education, sociology, economics, psychology, demography, statistics, and psychometrics. The application deadline is January 10, 2011.

Institute on Statistical Analysis for Education Policy: Transitions from High School to College. The Institute's goal is to build the capacity of the U.S. education research community to use large-scale national and international data sets supported by the NCES, NSF, and other federal agencies. Hands-on training is provided in the application of large-scale data sets, with special emphasis on using them for policy-related research in education. In 2011, the Institute will focus on using these data sets to address research questions related to student transitions from high school to college. Senior researchers, agency staff, and other experts jointly provide this training, to be held May 24-26, 2011, in Washington, DC. The Institute will cover participant expenses (transportation, meals, and lodging.) The application deadline is January 20, 2011.

Faculty Institute for the Teaching of Statistics with Large-Scale Date Sets. The Faculty Institute's goal is to help faculty use large-scale federal data sets in their courses. Especially important are data sets sponsored by the NCES, NSF, and other federal agencies. These data sets, often longitudinal and nationally representative, offer an excellent opportunity to conduct research and learn advanced quantitative methods with high quality policy relevant data. This Institute aims to "train the trainers"; that is, to teach faculty to incorporate these data sets in their statistics and methodology courses, thereby preparing the next generation of researchers to take advantage of these rich data resources in their research. This Institute will be held June 15-17, 2011 at Stanford University. The Institute will cover participant expenses (transportation, meals, and lodging.) The application deadline is January 20, 2011.

See the website for each program for further details. Questions may be directed to Ming Lowe (202-238-3200, ext. 227) at AERA.